There's a store championship being held in our area this weekend, and they just announced that they're closing at 7:30 PM, no questions asked. Top ranked at 7:30 wins.
Many of you know that store championships with 30+ attendees can take 12, 13, 14 hours. Would the store's steadfast refusal to change its schedule (around an event they volunteered for, no less) change your stance on attending? How would you change your list to accommodate the time limit?
Well the larger question, of if they can do that... Yes they can. Myself I wouldn't attend such an event because it's not really fair.
If I were playing in it anyway... I'd take a low ship count list, like a Decimator and Phantom, or a Han/Dash and Corran type list. That way you'd have the fastest possible games.
The rules for running a store championship are very straight forward and are meant to be the same regardless of where it is taking place. The store had to know that they would have certain requirements placed on them for running this event, and I would hope that any store that refuses to follow them would permanently lose out on any further organized play support from FFG.
What time are they starting?
They are opening at 9:30. They're expecting 30+ people, so I'm guessing start time around 10:30.
They are opening at 9:30. They're expecting 30+ people, so I'm guessing start time around 10:30.
Wow that's crazy, the store championships I've gone to had maybe 8-10 people
I do not know FFG's stance on this but do know they included the number of rounds/elim rounds that they expected be run based on the attendance. It would not surprise me if not following this meant they will not approve future events unless they are run according to their outline.
I would not attend. Is a total crap shoot. If you lose round 1 you may as well just stop entirely, Which sucks, especially if they are charging entry.
They are opening at 9:30. They're expecting 30+ people, so I'm guessing start time around 10:30.
Wow that's crazy, the store championships I've gone to had maybe 8-10 people
Where do you live? I'm in Dallas/Ft Worth; we had 26 last year and I'm anticipating over 40 for ours this year....I think most if not all had at least 12 in my area.
My answer to the question in the thread title is "it depends". 
There's a store championship being held in our area this weekend, and they just announced that they're closing at 7:30 PM, no questions asked. Top ranked at 7:30 wins.
Many of you know that store championships with 30+ attendees can take 12, 13, 14 hours. Would the store's steadfast refusal to change its schedule (around an event they volunteered for, no less) change your stance on attending? How would you change your list to accommodate the time limit?
They are opening at 9:30. They're expecting 30+ people, so I'm guessing start time around 10:30.
As to this particular question, it still depends. Are they running 60-minute matches with a rigorously enforced 10-minute break between and no lunch break? If so, and assuming they don't actually interrupt the championship match to close up the store, they have just about enough time to get through a 17-32 player tournament according to FFG's rules.
(Eight rounds at 60 minutes plus seven breaks at 10 minutes is a total of 550 minutes, or 9 hours 10 minutes.)
But from your description, I doubt that's actually the case, because if you're following FFG's rules it's five rounds of Swiss play plus a cut to the top 8, and at 7:30 they should be into the cut--and there's no "top ranked player" after the first round of single-elimination play. It seems more like they're planning on running five 75-minute rounds of Swiss play, with more generous breaks between rounds and maybe even an hour for food.
And that might even be okay with me, if they were upfront about how the tournament was going to work. But if the only information you have is that the store opens at 9:30am and will absolutely close at 7:30pm, I'd personally lean away from attending.
Edited by Vorpal SwordThe store is opening at 9 am (2 hours early), Round 1 to start at 9:30, 60 minute rounds, 4 rounds of Swiss, cut to top 8, 60 minute rounds, expecting the final game to start at 5:45 pm, so the tournament can be over by 7-7:15. They are not expecting to just end it all with "Top ranked at 7:30 wins."
They are expecting 30-40 players. I, and the TO, would love to have more/longer rounds, but the store is already opening early for the event. Not all venues have the ability to stay open until after midnight, staffing, rental agreements, etc.
The reason for standardized tournament rules are so you can know what to expect and plan accordingly. I don't think there is much problem with a store changing the rules as long that they are clear that they did and what the new rules are well in advance. That being said, FFG has put a lot of time planning out what it wants its tournament rules to be. They are probably a pretty good set of rules, if you vary from them you are likely to have all sorts of unforeseen consequences. For example if I knew that games were going to be shorter, I would be more likely to play my double Decimator list. The chances that you do lots of damage, but don't get any points for it are pretty good with this list.
It's going to take you an hour for registration. That's just the truth of it.
The players and store owner and employees specifically know what they're getting into when they decide to host.
They are opening at 9:30. They're expecting 30+ people, so I'm guessing start time around 10:30.
Wow that's crazy, the store championships I've gone to had maybe 8-10 people
That was the 2014 Store Champs yes? The game basically exploded after that so expect a lot more depending on how the uptake has been with your local community. We used to get 4 -12 for tournaments around here now I regularly see 20+
Edited by KovuTalliAll of the information I have listed was posted on the Facebook event, so many/most of the people attending will have access to the tournament schedule. Also the $10 entry fee is lower than or equal to average.
I also calculated that the top 8 will be 2 or 3 people with 4-0 W/L records and 9 to 11 players with 3-1 records hoping their MOV is high enough to get in.
I personally think that if you start a Tournament you should finish it, so that no one has to suffer through a bye.
The store is opening at 9 am (2 hours early), Round 1 to start at 9:30, 60 minute rounds, 4 rounds of Swiss, cut to top 8, 60 minute rounds, expecting the final game to start at 5:45 pm, so the tournament can be over by 7-7:15. They are not expecting to just end it all with "Top ranked at 7:30 wins."
They are expecting 30-40 players. I, and the TO, would love to have more/longer rounds, but the store is already opening early for the event. Not all venues have the ability to stay open until after midnight, staffing, rental agreements, etc.
Yeah....Something tells me there is more to this story
Most people WANT the tournament to be held to the highest standards possible. The store holding the event DEFINITELY wants the game held and the tournament held to the highest possible standards, because thats their business. Tournaments aren't put on because businesses just have nothing better to do with their day, they are put on because not only are they fun, but they can be a source of incremental and impulse sales, as well as advertisement.
I have often found, that if changes have to be made to a tournament structure, to give the store/TO a chance to explain themselves, because if MechGumbi is telling the truth (and i've no reason to doubt this) then there probably is a very legitimate explanation as to why he cant stay open, and the players can decide if they want to participate in this event. If they don't, they wont, end of story, but saying something like this:
There's a store championship being held in our area this weekend, and they just announced that they're closing at 7:30 PM, no questions asked. Top ranked at 7:30 wins.
Many of you know that store championships with 30+ attendees can take 12, 13, 14 hours. Would the store's steadfast refusal to change its schedule (around an event they volunteered for, no less) change your stance on attending? How would you change your list to accommodate the time limit?
So that leaves you looking at 12.5 hours of tournament time assuming everything stays on schedule. That doesn't include setup and teardown time for the TO and/or store representatives, which could easily tack on an extra hour on both ends. Most retail venues are open for 8-10 hours on a typical weekday, and often less on weekends (especially Sundays).
That means that for an event with at least 17 players--which isn't all that big, in my experience--falls into a really awkward window. It's not feasible to run a typical store championship over two days, but it's also difficult to shoehorn eight rounds into a single day. If I were running an FLGS, I'd be genuinely torn: I really care about X-wing and want to support the competitive scene (as well as sell some minis), but I'm looking at the equivalent of nearly an entire day of work to run the **** thing.
So I can definitely see why a TO might tweak the tournament format, to make life easier for the players and easier for a venue to accommodate. Squeeze things down to 60-minute rounds; reduce the Swiss rounds to 4 or (preferably) reduce the cut to 4; split 17-32 players into two groups of 9-16 and run two parallel Swiss tournaments and then combine the final cut... there are lots of options that can feasibly get you down to 8-10 hours rather than 12-14.
...unfortunately, none of them are exactly what FFG's Organized Play wants to see, which leads me to believe they should make some changes prior to sending out the 2016 kits.
EDIT: That will teach me to make a post without refreshing the thread. MechGumbi has made clear that the store and TO are already making exactly the kind of reasonable accommodation I'd expect to see in a situation like this, and they're being upfront about what's going on. It sounds to me like the store and TO are covering all the right bases.
Edited by Vorpal SwordSide note: From what I've heard there are a couple of people looking into the number of rounds listed in the kit because it seems to be a copy and paste error from either the card games or last years regionals (can't remember which) as it's too many needed for a store champ.
Edited by AlexWSlightly off topic.
I know of one tournament organiser that got a warning for adding to the FFG prize support and giving a 1st/2nd place prize to 3rd place (Note: 1st and 2nd place were more than happy with this, 3rd place made the compliant, apparently)
I know of one store championship that is limited to 16 players. Is there anything in the store champ guidelines that allows or disallows a cap on attendance?
Edited by DagobahDaveI think people may be drastically overestimating the obsessive adherence to the tournament rules for the Store Championship level.
For example, I don't think I've ever been to one which does elimination rounds, no matter how many players are there. Swiss ordering wins it.
The simple reality is that at the Store Championship level, resource constraints are going to win over strict following of the rules. Most players don't expect 17 attendees to require a 12-hour tournament, many stores don't have the space to allow unlimited entries, etc.
If you're that distressed over the store having to cut it off at a given time, just don't go. If you're so distressed about it corrupting the Championship Qualifying Process (because if you're that distressed it deserves caps) then, well... I don't know what to tell you. I don't think the community is benefited by FFG excluding stores over issues like this, but if you want to make an issue of it, that's your call.
Side note: From what I've heard there are a couple of people looking into the number of rounds listed in the kit because it seems to be a copy and paste error from either the card games or last years regionals (can't remember which) as it's too many needed for a store champ.
I hosted a store championship last weekend with 36 players and I too questioned the number of rounds but I did get in contact with FFG and they confirmed that they didn't have an error. They intend the store championships to last all day is what I was told.
I know of one store championship that is limited to 16 players. Is there anything in the store champ guidelines that allows or disallows a cap on attendance?
Municipal fire regulations?
Side note: From what I've heard there are a couple of people looking into the number of rounds listed in the kit because it seems to be a copy and paste error from either the card games or last years regionals (can't remember which) as it's too many needed for a store champ.
I hosted a store championship last weekend with 36 players and I too questioned the number of rounds but I did get in contact with FFG and they confirmed that they didn't have an error. They intend the store championships to last all day is what I was told.
Ok, good to know.
Find out how long the rounds are. If they are 50-60 minutes bring a falcon with r2d2 and c3p0.